


The Sound of Rain at Summer's End

by StellaProcella



Series: Thrilling ☆ Sunshine: Another Sunshine Story [1]
Category: Love Live! School Idol Festival (Video Game), Love Live! School Idol Project, Love Live! Sunshine!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Angst, Childhood Friends, Childhood Memories, Magic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-01
Updated: 2018-03-01
Packaged: 2019-03-25 17:55:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,506
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13839993
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StellaProcella/pseuds/StellaProcella
Summary: "The sound of rain knocks on my window and sadness like my own pours down from the sky, endlessly drenching this moment."Thrilling ☆ Sunshine: First side-story! 「You can read this one shot even if you aren't following the main story. 」





	The Sound of Rain at Summer's End

_“If something begins then that means it will also come to an end. I hadn’t given it any thought up till now. No, I didn’t even want to think about it.”_

The radiant light of the full moon and the sparkling stars reflected over the surface of the vast ocean. Despite it being late at night, it was still the middle of the summer. Because of this the inn was as lively as ever. 

The sounds of multiple people having conversations and laughing mixed in with the sounds of the waves. Mixing in with those lively summer times, a young girl ran into the inn while short of breath. 

The young girl with long orange hair ignored the environment around her as she entered the building. She had slightly managed to avoid crashing into one of the guests and one of the walls as she rushed upstairs.

“Chika!” A familiar voice yelled from downstairs in order to scold her. “No running inside the inn!”

But the orange haired girl was fast to dismiss the warning; in fact she might have not listened to it at all. 

Finally making it to a room located near the end of the hall upstairs, the orange haired girl slammed the door open while rushing inside. 

“You!! Let’s go! Let’s go!”

“Hm?” A little girl with short gray hair turned around and put down the picture book she had in her hands. “Where?”

“To find treasure!!” 

Still not able to catch up with the situation, the young girl tilted her head while giving Chika a confused look. 

Chika puffed out her cheeks and pouted slightly irritated. She walked towards You, placing her hand on her shoulders and gave her a serious look. 

“You have no idea about what happened!! Listen!”

You stared at Chika in suspense, it didn’t take much for her to be deeply interested in whatever Chika had to say even though this was an often occurrence by now. 

Little Chika was quick to recall the events that just happened as she started explaining everything to You with good detail.

☆

After walking down a small wooden boat the orange haired girl waved goodbye to the old man that had taken her to the place where the old diving shop was located. The day was as sunny as ever and she could feel the heat rapidly taking over her body, but this wasn’t enough to get to her.

She picked up a large bag from the ground and put it on her back. Even though the bag wasn’t that big, it was half her size and it seemed to be extremely heavy. Giving a nod to herself, Chika started walking towards the shop and was quickly greeted by one of her best friends who noticed her arrival right away. 

“You are here again?” A little Kanan gave Chika a confused look. “Didn’t you have to help at the inn today?”

“I did but…”

“Hm?”

“But yesterday you looked sad again so… I brought you these!!” She happily handed over her heavy bag to Kanan. “They are mandarine oranges, but not just any kind; they are good luck mandarine oranges!!”

The blue ponytail girl remained speechless for just a second before giving Chika a smile. 

“I already told you, didn’t I? I’m not sad!!” 

“Really?”

Kanan pouted before approaching Chika and ruffling her hair. 

“Really really!! But… thank you! I’ll be taking these!”

“Take good care of them! They are good oranges you know, I even taught them tricks!!”

“…?!”

“Yup!!” Chika nodded enthusiastically. “They learn so fast!!”

“I see…”

But as the two girls talked just outside the shop, a nearby conversation was quick to draw their attention. Two adults walked by while wearing diving suits and their loud voices easily stood out.

“It’s just like I told you! That place is haunted!!”

“It’s just a rumor isn’t it? Ghost stories are popular in the summer after all.”

“It’s not a rumor! That’s why all those stores in Numazu got abandoned, because of the ghost!!”

The conversation faded away into the background as both adults walked farther away towards the sea, but that had been already enough to peak Chika’s interest. 

The long orange haired girl stared into the distance for a few seconds before taking off at full speed. 

“Chika!!” Kanan called out to her. “Where are you going?!”

“Come to the inn later no matter what, okay? Bye bye!!”

“Eh?”

But much to Kanan’s dismay, Chika was already gone.

☆

“So that’s how it is!!” Chika pointed at You. “We are going to go find the treasure!!”

“Wait a moment!! H-How does that ghost story relate to a treasure?”

“You, You, You.” Chika shook her head. “You have to think ahead!!”

“Huh?”

“If there are ghosts there, they are certainly guarding a treasure!!”

“They are…?”

“Of course they are!! That’s the kind of thing ghosts do!!”

“They do?!”

“They do!! Well… if they are pirate ghosts.”

“So they are pirate ghosts now...” 

And then, abruptly interrupting their conversation a tired looking younger Kanan walked into the room. 

“I made it.” Kanan sat on the floor exhausted. 

“Helping at the shop must be though.” You greeted her with a salute.

“It’s okay.” Kanan shook her head and then looked at Chika. “So, why did you want me to come here?”

“Kanan!!” Chika scolded her. “You were supposed to know already!!”

“I… was?”

“The treasure!! We are going to go take the treasure from the ghost pirates!!”

“G-G-G-Ghost?!”

“So that’s the part that surprises her…” 

You stared at her. It was rare to see Kanan overreact like this, but whenever it came to ghost stories or going out at night it was easy to get a reaction out of her. 

“Yes!!” Chika leaned closer, staring directly into Kanan’s violet eyes. “Remember what those people said earlier? There are ghosts in Numazu and we are going there!!”

“Numazu?!” Kanan looked shocked at the idea of going there. She looked down at the floor while lost in thought. “I don’t think we should…”

“Kanan!!” Chika pulled on her cheeks. “You haven’t been hanging out with us lately!! I’m not taking no for an answer!!”

“I know, I know!” The blue haired girl grabbed Chika’s wrists, pulling her hands away. “We can hang out but we aren’t going there! N-Not with ghosts there!!”

“Kanan is right.” You was fast to agree with the older girl. “The adults said we shouldn’t leave the main Uchiura area on our own, you weren’t even allowed to visit Kanan’s shop for a while remember?”

“That’s because the adults are dumb!!” Chika complained. “I want to find the treasure!!”

Seeing Chika’s eyes light up like this made it hard for You to continue agreeing with Kanan. After all, she was used to go on small adventures with her father before so the spirit of adventure was alive and burning inside her.

On the other hand, Kanan felt guilty about not agreeing with Chika. In fact, part of her really wanted to go. It’s not that she cared that much about the rules the adults gave them either. It was something else… something difficult to explain, something she didn’t even want to think about. So even if she really wanted to humor Chika, the heavy weight in her heart prevented her from agreeing.

“We’ll hang out tomorrow for sure, but somewhere else!!” Kanan gave Chika a pat on the head. “It’ll be a lot of fun, okay?”

“Hmph.” The orange haired girl glared at the ground looking disappointed. “Fine.” 

And so, with each girl going back to their own home, another summer day had come to an end.

☆

As the rays of the sun entered her window, Chika slightly opened her eyes. Still feeling sleepy and heavy, she rolled to the side, falling down into the floor while tightly hugging her lobster plush.

“Ow…” Chika caressed the top of her head while yawning. “Morning Mr. Lobster.”

Walking out of her room and down into the living room, there was a note on the table by one of her sisters. The orange haired girl barely gave a glance to the note, knowing it was the same as usual. 

“We are going out to clean the inn so there is food in the fridge! – Shima” 

Everything was moving just like any other morning. She was so used to this routine that it was as if her body was moving on her own. 

As expected, she soon heard knocking on the door. A younger You and Kanan stood just outside with smiles in their faces. After a certain series of events, You’s family had moved away from the Numazu area and close to Chika’s house in Uchiura. A great amount of people had lost their homes in a certain event, and a result her family’s inn had become incredible busy. 

Soon after that, every morning had become the same. Her sisters would already be gone by the time she woke up, and then her friends would show up to get breakfast together.

The young sailor girl was just as sleepy as Chika and gave her a quick salute without saying anything. As Chika returned the salute, Kanan walked inside after taking off her shoes.

“You just woke up didn’t you?” The blue haired girl put her hands on her hips. “You two go get ready while I prepare the food!”

Even though she called it that, all she had to do was to heat up the food that Chika’s sisters had left already prepared in the fridge. 

Serving everyone their food and meeting every morning to spend time together like a family. Even if this had become the usual for these young girls, Kanan couldn’t help but feel like something was missing. Even within the happy and bright atmosphere at that table, looking at the empty seats, she could tell without a doubt that something was missing. 

At that time, she couldn’t truly understand what she felt. Even though Kanan was always the most mature one, the events that had taken place had been too heavy for her to understand properly. It may have been a selfish wish for her, but all she wanted is for maybe, one day, for everyone who she could call a “family” to be here as well.

“Okay!” Kanan stood up once everyone was done with their food. “I have to go and help gramps with the shop, make sure you clean the dishes okay?”

“Eh?!” Chika glared at her. “You said you would hang out with us today!!”

“I haven’t forgotten! I’ll ask gramps to let me leave the shop early, so wait for me!!”

With that, Kanan quickly left, leaving the other two girls alone.

“Aw, she’s gone.” 

“Want to go check on her later?” You proposed. Hanging out with Kanan even at the diving shop was always fun.

“I know!!” However, Chika had other plans. “Let’s go find the treasure!!”

“But I thought we weren’t supposed to go there…”

“I know but…”

“?”

“I want to get the treasure and give it to Kanan! That will definitely cheer her up!”

“Hm…” You brought a hand to her chin, but she didn’t show much resistance when it came to going along with Chika’s plans. “Okay! Let’s go then!”

“Yay!! Let’s go-”

“But first.”

“Eh?”

“Let’s wash the dishes! Full speed ahead!!”

“Eh?!?!”

Much to Chika’s dismay she knew she had to listen to You. Just thinking about her sister’s reaction last time they left the dirty dishes in the table was enough to give Chika goose bumps. She wasn’t even able to sleep for days after that happened.

Finally free to enjoy their day, the two girls walked out of the house and were met with the fresh seaside breeze of the town. They hadn’t really kept track of time but today was the final day of summer, because of this, the town had become a lot more lively. There were some people running around by the sea while doing exercise while others were just playing around. By the looks of it, some of them weren’t locals but also people that had come to visit the area for vacations. 

With everyone distracted with their own activities, no one even noticed the two girls that walked in the opposite direction towards the forbidden zone. 

Despite Numazu being so close by, access to most of the place had been restricted and as such, there were no busses at the stop in Uchiura that would take them there faster. This was no problem for Chika and You’s spirit of adventure, in fact, it was more like a challenge that they were willing to take head on. 

The gray haired girl followed Chika who was happily humming a song. She was well aware that they were breaking rules, had she been alone she wouldn’t have gone through with this, but following Chika made her feel safe. Being around her was an amazing experience, there was always a new adventure waiting for her every day. 

Even if their destination wasn’t all that far away, it was still quite a long way going by foot. The day continued passing by and the closer they got to noon the hotter this summer day was. 

“Are we there yet…?” 

Chika complained, sitting down by the trunk of a palm tree to take a break. 

“Are you okay?” 

“Uuu…” Chika placed her hands over her tummy which let out a growl. “I’m hungry.”

“Hmm…” You looked up at the sky while placing a hand over her forehead to protect herself from the sun. “I guess it’s about lunchtime.”

“Amazing!! Can you tell the time from looking at the sky?!”

“Huh?” You remained quiet for a moment in shock. “You are right! I think I can!!”

“You are amazing!!”

“Hehehe it’s no big deal.” You looked away embarrassed and then tried to change the topic of the conversation. “Oh, that’s right!”

She reached for her backpack and pulled out a small pile of sandwiches from inside a small box.

“Food?!” Chika immediately reacted as soon as the smell reached her.

“Yup!” You nodded proudly. “Kanan has been teaching me how to cook, so I wanted to give it a try!!”

 

Thanks to You’s effort, both were fully refilled and ready to keep going again. They had been advancing at a slow pace and lost a lot of time messing around so it was already the middle of the afternoon before they could even realize it. 

“You!” Chika yelled cheerfully as soon as the buildings of Numazu came into her sight. “We are here!!”

“We did it!!”

The two cheered, running forward towards their destination. However, once they were there, it was nothing like they expected at all. 

The colorful seaside town of Numazu had become mostly deserted. Unlike the bright and cheerful town of Uchiura, Numazu itself was completely silent and desolate. And yet, the silence wasn’t the scariest thing. The two little girls found themselves standing in the middle of what looked like the remains of destruction. 

After walking around, what had looked like buildings from afar were only the remains of the buildings themselves. Only a few walls still remained but taking a better look at the place, the buildings were completely collapsed and the area was just a mess of rubble and dust. It wasn’t only the buildings, but nature itself had been deeply damaged. 

The two girls couldn’t help but to stare in awe at the scene before them. They didn’t even know what to think. It was difficult for them to remember everything that had happened when they were even younger, but part of this scenery felt extremely familiar to You. After all, this wasn’t all too far from where she used to live before. If anything, there was a big chance that her old house was somewhere in that rubble now.

“Chika…” You spoke with a timid tone, slowly grasping unto the girl’s shirt. “Let’s go back.”

“…” 

The girl with long orange hair remained in silence while contemplating the place before her. Even in the middle of this destruction, she had found herself surrounded by a strange feeling she couldn’t explain. It was nothing like fear or sadness. The feeling of the cold breeze running through her skin as dark clouds covered the sun, letting only a few rays of light shine on the remains of the old Numazu, it was almost a nostalgic feeling. 

Even if the answer was still somewhere inside her memories, she couldn’t remember what had happened here at all. She felt as though clear images with the events of that day were in her mind, but at the same time those images would become blurry in just an instant. She felt a cold sensation run down her chest, a sensation similar to pain, as if something deep inside was telling her not to forget this scenery. As if something deep inside was yelling at her to remember. 

And in the midst of it all, in the midst of all her blurred thoughts, there was one clear image she could recall if only for a moment. It had definitely been here, soon after the destruction took place. She could see the image of her best friend, the girl with long blue hair standing there with the setting sun at her back. Her lips moved as if whispering some words which Chika couldn’t make out, and as she did, tears rolled down her face. It had been the only moment when Chika had seen Kanan’s true feelings. The only time she had seen her not holding back her emotions. 

She couldn’t understand anything. She couldn’t understand what happened or what had driven her to that extent, but ever since, no matter how much Kanan smiled and no matter how full of energy she looked like, she couldn’t hide the pain that reflected in her eyes. 

But that was exactly why, even it was pointless, even if there wasn’t much she could do. Chika wanted to help her. She wanted to see Kanan smile again from the bottom of her heart. So that is why, she couldn’t back down. 

The orange haired girl took a deep breath and then gave You a pat on the back.

“It’s okay!!” She smiled at the gray haired girl. “Let’s find that treasure fast!! We can do it!!”

“Are you sure…?”

“Yeah!! It’ll be fine!!”

But as the two girls moved deeper into the destroyed town, a strange figure silently followed them from afar. 

 

“Hm.” Chika frowned as she scanned the area. “They said it was an abandoned store, right?”

“I think so but…”

“Where is it?!” She yelled annoyed. “That’s no fair! Ghost pirates stop hiding and show yourselves!!”

“Wait Chika!” You looked somewhat concerned about the girl’s last statement. “What are we going to do if they really show up?!”

“Steal their treasure?”

“Just like that?!”

“Maybe they’ll hand it over if we ask nicely!!”

“It’s hard to believe there are nice pirates out there.” You whispered under her breath. 

In fact, it’s not like she had never seen a pirate before. Thanks to some of the adventures she had experienced with her father and his crew, even if she didn’t get to do much, she had seen a direct confrontation with a group of pirates before. If possible, she didn’t want to meet them at all, even if it was just ghost pirates.

“I think I found it!” Chika started running at full speed.

“W-Wait!”

You was quick to follow. She wasn’t surprised that Chika had found the place so soon, if anything that was just like her. 

Because of the destruction that had been spread across this place, once they had found the place it was easy to recognize it. It was a building located by some fallen palm trees close to the sea side. It stood out since it was one of the few buildings that still retained its four walls. It also had a fallen flag just by the entrance with the Japanese character for ice, something that was classic for places that sold shaved ice in the summer. 

Just by giving it a simple glance, it was easy to tell that the place had long since run out of business. 

“We are here!!” Chika and You both cheered at the same time. 

The two young girls looked at each other and nodded before approaching the front door. 

“Excuse me…” Chika whispered as she opened the door. 

You was making sure to silently follow her but… the moment Chika entered she was able to hear a sudden noise behind her.

“?!” 

You was fast to turn around but it was already too late. A tall blob-like looking creature with two eyes was staring at her as it jumped into her direction, approaching her closer and closer. Just by taking a single look at this creature it may have looked relatively harmless, but it was still a monster and almost twice her size. 

“C-Chi…” 

She tried calling out for help as she fell back into the ground but it looked like the orange haired girl was already inside the house so she had not noticed the creature that approached them. 

As the creature approached even closer, a little You let out a scream once the monster leaped in her direction. She shut her eyes tightly, completely giving up on trying to defend herself but the monster was never able to reach her.

Instead Chika’s yelling voice reached her ears as she charged towards the monster. The moment she noticed You wasn’t following her, she rapidly left the house and ran towards the enemy as soon as she realized that her friend was in danger. 

Even if she had a strong spirit, Chika was still a little girl with no fighting experience at all. Unlike Kanan, she wasn’t able to use any kind of magic and she didn’t have any physical strength either. But even so, that didn’t stop her from doing her best to protect someone important to her. 

But the situation had rapidly escalated into a terrible scenario. 

The moment Chika charged at the monster while throwing a punch, the monster simply tackled her in midair. Despite its innocent appearance, it had hit Chika with enough force to send her flying and crashing against the ground. The orange haired girl rolled over the remains of the city. 

When she realized what happened, You’s eyes opened wide. She had to do something, she had to take Chika and run but, her body wouldn’t respond. She couldn’t even let her voice out or scream, she had been completely frozen solid in fear. 

“Go away!!.” But even then, the trembling voice of her friend reached her. “We are here to get the treasure for Kanan, so please leave us alone!!”

Chika stood up despite her body being in pain and having some bruises on her arms and legs. She could see the monster trying to reach You one more time and she wasn’t about to let it hurt her friend. She wasn’t even giving the situation as much thought as she should, she wasn’t thinking about running away. At that moment all Chika could think about was doing her best, if she did her best, things would work out somehow. 

Even though her energetic and stubborn personality was at fault for this, this hadn’t been born thanks to her will alone. If she did her best then things would work out in the end, the one who had taught her that had been Kanan. Despite everything, Kanan had been a reliable and comforting figure. Just having her around made them feel like everything would be okay, like they were safe and there was nothing to be scared about. That’s exactly why they wanted to do something for her, that’s exactly why Chika was ready to believe in her words without questioning anything. 

Saving her friend, finding the treasure and going back home. That had been the ideal plan, the ideal turn of events, but thinking things would be that easy may had been too naïve. 

“Chikaaaaaaaa!!!!” You’s screams resounded across the empty town as Chika’s body was sent crashing into the floor one more time.

☆

Kanan took a deep breath once she stepped off a small wooden boat and into the seaside town of Uchiura. She had worked really hard all day in order to get permission to leave early so she could play around with Chika.

As she made her way towards Chika’s house, seeing the town being so lively felt strange. After what happened, she would have thought that things would quiet down even if it was the middle of the summer. Instead, things had become even livelier, but that may have just been because of people wanting to spend time with each other while they still could. 

Thinking about it, she felt curious about Chika and You’s recent behavior. Even though they had always been really close and known each other as long as they had memory, she could tell that something was off this time. No, she could tell something was off especially because she had known them for so long. She couldn’t put her finger on what it was but it was like they were being a little pushy while trying to spend time with her a lot more than usual. 

A few days ago, both even spent the entire day helping out at the diving shop to spend time with her claiming that they were just playing around. Chika had been bringing her presents every day and You insisted to teach her how to cook. 

It wasn’t that spending more time with them bothered them but, what Chika had told her just yesterday did bother her a lot more than she expected.

_“But yesterday you looked sad again…”_

“Did I really…” She muttered out loud.

Giving too much focus to her feelings wasn’t something that Kanan liked to do. Deep inside, she knew there was something that really bothered her, but she didn’t want to think about it. She knew it felt as though her heart had been stabbed with a knife, but she didn’t want to think about it. In the end, thinking about her feelings was never a good idea. She couldn’t let herself get taken over by them and cause trouble to others. From the bottom of her heart all she wanted was to see the people close to her smile, and she would force herself to do the same if it was necessary. 

After all, in the end, no matter what she did there was no way for _them_ to ever come back. What had started like a beautiful flourishing experience had come to a sudden, terrible end. It was scary to think about it. It was scary to allow herself to relax, to enjoy what she had now. It felt like the moment she did, everything would just end the same way again. 

The blue haired ponytail girl closed her eyes, letting the cold breeze take away her worries if only for a moment. Kanan nodded to herself and smacked her cheeks trying to snap herself out of her somber thoughts; this wasn’t the time for this! She would go meet with her friends, spend time with them and it would be fun!

 

It didn’t take her too long to arrive at the doorstep of Chika’s house. Come to think about it, that place had become like a second home to her. She knocked on the door wondering what the other girls had been up to but… there was no response.

“Chika? You?” Kanan tried raising her voice and call out to them but there was only silence.

That was strange. Even though Chika and You would often leave the house to go play around it was close to lunchtime and she knew there was no way they wouldn’t be here in time. As her fingers made contact with the doorknob, she couldn’t help but to feel a slow cold sensation sinking into her gut. No, there was no way something bad happened. Why would something bad happen in the first place? It must have been her imagination, maybe they were just playing around, that had to be it.

“Chika?” Kanan called out to her once more as she opened the door and entered the house. 

The place felt empty and it didn’t look like Chika’s sisters had come back either. Kanan was quick to check Chika’s room upstairs but she couldn’t find anything at all. The more she looked around, the more nervous she became but she didn’t want to follow that train of thought, it felt like she was getting worried over nothing. 

The seaside sky was shining brightly but just like that it was suddenly covered by dark clouds. As Kanan looked outside the window, with no warning, a heavy downpour descended into the land. 

Kanan’s ponytail danced with the wind as the raindrops reflected on her eyes. With the sound of rain resounding in her ears, she couldn’t help but remember what happened on that day. After all, she could remember it clearly, it all started like this, with a sudden heavy downpour. 

She felt heavy turmoil in her heart, she couldn’t let the same thing happen again. Completely disregarding the rain, Kanan rushed towards the exit of the house but something stopped her before she could leave. 

As a strong wind current ran by, a small piece of paper was lifted up, flying straight into her face. 

She examined the paper, it looked like it had been torn apart from a notebook but it had something written on it. 

_“We are going to bring the treasure back for sure, so wait for us here okay? - Chika”_

The moment Kanan finished reading this note, she let out a gasp while staring at it in shock. It seemed like they had left the note somewhere on a table but it had fallen down so that’s why she hadn’t noticed it up till now. Knowing Chika, Kanan felt stupid for not thinking about this possibility before, of course she would do something like this. 

Usually, Chika didn’t like following rules and was always reckless but Kanan didn’t seem to mind, it was something refreshing. But this time was different; she had gone into the forbidden place. She had gone to the place where her life had flourished once, and where it had all been taken away from her. 

Was she going to lose someone again? Was something going to end abruptly for her once more? 

Her body had moved on her own before she could realize it. The young blue haired girl was running with all her might towards the place where Chika had gone. Even if she was scared to go there, even if the thought of going there hurt, that didn’t matter. What happened to her didn’t matter. She wouldn’t allow herself to lose someone again, that’s something that shouldn’t happen, it shouldn’t, it shouldn’t, it shouldn’t! Even if she had to put her own life on the line she would protect them without hesitation.

☆

“?”

The young girl with short gray hair opened her eyes. She felt as though she had just woken up but that wasn’t it, she hadn’t been sleeping. She couldn’t understand what her current situation was at all. Everything was spinning and her sight was incredibly blurry. 

A few seconds later she was able to tell she was kneeling down on the floor and could feel the cold rain enveloping her body. 

“What just…?”

She looked at her own hands and realized they were covered in what looked like dust. Her body felt heavy and raising up her head felt painful but once she looked up she could feel her heart skip a beat.

“Chi…ka?” 

The young girl with long orange hair was lying down unconscious on the floor next to her, but it looked like the damage she had taken was greater than what it looked. 

You tried to walk towards her but her legs gave up on her, making her fall to the ground. Moving entirely on willpower, she crawled her way towards Chika but her consciousness faded away. 

Somber wind howled and the sounds of rain enveloped everything.

But that absolute silence was slowly broken apart as the sounds of running steps approaching the place became louder and louder.

☆

Come to think of it, for how long had they known each other? If Chika were to give an answer to that question, it was ever since she was born. To her, Kanan had always been there from the very start. They were very faint images, but her earliest memory was that of a baby Kanan playing with her as both played with blocks and tried to build something together.

She had been there from the very start and yet… there was still so much she didn’t know about her. Even though she was always smiling and even though she was always full of life and energy, at some point, that had changed. 

Could she have been able to do something about? Was it her fault? She couldn’t tell, she couldn’t understand, but even then, she couldn’t leave Kanan alone with her pain. Even if it was something she couldn’t grasp, even if she couldn’t see her true feelings, she would still do everything in her hands to help her. 

For Kanan, You and herself to always be together forever, that was the future Chika had envisioned and that was the future that she would protect no matter what.

☆

And so, the orange haired girl slowly opened her eyes. The sound of heavy rain falling over the roof had enveloped the atmosphere.

The moment she regained consciousness her body was assaulted by incredible pain but there was something else which immediately called her attention. A faint sobbing voice reached her, it was a voice that she knew all too well. For some reason, the moment she heard it, her eyes couldn’t help but to water. 

“Kanan…?” 

Chika slowly sat down. She wasn’t sure of where she was but it looked like it was inside a small room in a dark building. Since she had entered the place before, she was able to tell right away that this was the shop which was supposed to be haunted. 

Looking around, she was able to notice You who was fast asleep while lying down next to her, but then she moved her eyes towards the source of the sound she had heard earlier. 

Kanan sat down on a corner of the room, holding back her tears as she pressed her head against her legs. 

“Kana…?”

Chika slowly approached her but Kanan pulled her closer, hugging her tightly before she could even finish speaking.

“Chika!!” Kanan embraced her with all her might. “Chika, Chika, Chika!!”

“I-I’m sorry for-!”

“I’m so glad you are still here.” 

She didn’t even have the energy to get mad at her, simply knowing that she was okay, that she was still here, that was enough for her. 

Soon after, You’s eyes opened as well. The last thing she could remember was Chika being blown away by the monster from earlier, what happened after that…? 

The moment she saw Kanan, she felt an instant relief spread across her body. As long as Kanan was here, it would be okay. Still feeling a little lightheaded, You approached them and she was soon embraced by Kanan as well. 

Chika and You couldn’t understand why Kanan reacted like this, but it was okay. The two looked at each other and smiled before embracing Kanan back, giving her a tight hug. 

The three remained like this for a few minutes, and as sudden as it started, the rain came to an end.

☆

“So… what happened?” Kanan finally decided to question them as they walked outside the empty house.

“Hmm…” Chika tried to remember. “A big monster appeared and then…”

“A monster?!”

“But Chika defeated the monster!!” You pointed out, trying to fill in the gaps in Chika’s memory. 

“Eh, I did?!” Chika jumped back in shock for a moment. “I-I mean, that’s right! I defeated the ghost pirate!!”

“Really?” Kanan crossed her arms. “Either way, don’t do this again, okay? If you do I’m going to sue you!!”

“Sue?” Both Chika and You tilted their heads giving Kanan a confused look.

“Anyway!” Kanan turned around, looking embarrassed. “Let’s go back home!!”

“Wait a moment!!” Chika stopped her. “What about the treasure?!”

“You saw for yourself right? That shop was empty.”

“Aw, that’s no fair!!”

But as Chika complained, a strong current of wind ran by. They closed their eyes to avoid dust getting in, but the orange haired girl was able to see something the moment she looked at the scenery again. 

There was something flying along with the wind, it looked like an old book that was descending fast thanks to its weight. 

Kanan’s eyes opened wide the moment she saw it, it wasn’t the first time she had seen this book at all. On the other hand, Chika ran after it with no hesitation. 

“Chika wait!!” You ran after her.

“It’s the treasure!!” Chika cheered.

At this rate the book was about to fall into the sea nearby, but Chika jumped, catching it just in time and falling back into the sand.

“Are you okay?” You kneeled down to help Chika get up.

“It’s the treasure!!” Chika held the book up like a trophy. “We found it!!”

“We did it!!” You’s eyes lit up. “Take that ghost pirate!”

“Yeah!!”

“Kanan!!” The two walked towards the blue ponytail girl, holding her hands and pulling her closer. “We did it!!”

The image of both girls smiling reflected on Kanan’s eyes as their figures became shrouded by the light of the setting sun at their backs. 

At that moment, something clicked inside Kanan. This was an scene she had seen before. At that moment, she could see it clearly. 

The image of a little girl with short black hair holding a book after falling into the sand and laughing together with young blonde girl. The two girls smiling at her and their figures being covered by the light of the setting sun, it was a familiar scene. It was a scene she would never forget. At that time, she had been standing there too, at that time, she had also been laughing together with them. 

At that moment, Kanan truly believed that a fun summer like that would continue forever. But now, that was over. 

But that is why, looking at this, Kanan smiled. The scene before her, the connections she still had, she wouldn’t let it end. She would protect this until the end. 

She wanted to believe that, just as the rain came to an end, one day, her tears will come to an end as well. There was only one thing she could do now, to look up and think of tomorrow.

**Author's Note:**

> We finally have the first side-story! The Sound of Rain at Summer's End is one of my favorite songs so I hope I was able to do this chapter some justice! 
> 
> Since this is a story that takes place before the first chapter of the main story, I tried to make it a story that anyone could read! Something that I feel will definitely get a lot more difficult with the next side stories from now on. 
> 
> If you've been following the main story up till now, I hope you enjoyed reading this as well!
> 
> And if this is your first time reading my work and would like to get some answers to some things left up in the air here, I would suggest you to check out the main story: [Thrilling ☆ Sunshine](https://archiveofourown.org/works/11322864)!


End file.
